Donna Lochmann wasn’t planning on picking up any stray dogs when she got in her Jeep one February morning. The experienced rescuer is usually prepared for an unexpected rescue, but this time, she was going straight to an emergency call.
Her coworker Natalie Thompson jumped into the passenger seat to accompany Lochmann on the drive. But as she stared out the window, Thompson spotted someone small and brown hanging out on a side street.
“Just down one of the side streets, Natalie noticed a dog,” Lochmann, Stray Rescue of St. Louis’ chief life saving officer, told The Dodo.
Lochmann didn’t want to leave the dog alone, but she knew the rescue would take some time, and they had a dog with a medical emergency waiting for them. So, she decided to pick up the first dog, then stop by to check on the little dog after.
“After we got the first dog, we went back down the street where we’d found her earlier, but we didn’t see her anywhere,” Lochmann said. “And then we noticed her in an alleyway.”
Lochmann watched as the dog walked down the side of the alley. The rescuer tried to follow her but quickly lost sight of the dog. She walked to the end of the alleyway, where she found an abandoned multi-floor building and a small field next to it.
